10:42 AM Fri 28 Oct 2011 GMT
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 2011-12 third leg from Cape Town, Africa to Geraldton, Western Australia is currently underway.
The Clipper Race management team has arrived in Geraldton, crew who will be joining the race are standing by to greet their team mates and all that's missing now are the ten 68-foot ocean racing yachts which are rapidly closing in on the Western Australia coast.
Gold Coast Australia's bold move to sail much further than the other teams in order to run around the high pressure system that has dominated proceedings for much of the last week seems to have paid off
'We have successfully escaped the grasps of the massive high pressure system that is currently playing havoc with the rest of the fleet,' reports skipper, Richard Hewson. 'Yesterday we set ourselves a goal to try to be in a certain position away from the light winds of the high, and we managed to reach it before the high pressure system caught up with us. This is a massive relief as now it looks like we will have good winds all the way to Geraldton.
'This is a coastline that I know very well from cruising and racing over the years and it is nice to be once again sailing along it towards Geraldton. Western Australia is famous for its constant winds and the infamous Doctor sea breeze and at the moment it is very pleasant sailing whilst making very good speed.
'Clear skies and sunshine are being enjoyed on Gold Coast Australia and we are making the most of it by drying out our boat from weeks' worth of being consistently wet. The crew are in the midst of a good pre-arrival clean and also getting stuck in to maintenance tasks that were put on the back burner during heavy weather and cold watches. It is hoped that over the coming days we can get as many jobs done on board as possible so we will have more time to enjoy fantastic Geraldton and Western Australia hospitality.'
There will be a good Aussie barbecue waiting for all the teams at the Geraldton Yacht Club when they arrive but before they do there is another twist. With fewer than 400 miles to run, Richard and his team have decided to play their Joker and activate Stealth Mode. Their position will be reported at 1200 UTC before they go undercover for 24 hours.
Gold Coast Australia is expected to arrive in Geraldton on Sunday morning local time.
|
|
De Lage Landen races away from Cape Town, South Africa, at the start of Race 4 - Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race - Bruce Sutherland/onEdition
|
While Gold Coast Australia has outrun the high pressure, second placed De Lage Landen has not been so lucky, writes Stuart Jackson.
'With just over 500 miles to run, we have spent last night and this morning stuck in a high pressure system giving incredibly frustrating conditions. With no marked improvement in the weather looking imminent the cold beers seem a long way off at the moment! Lots of praying is being done to the wind gods so we can have the maximum amount of time to enjoy Geraldton. On the plus side the weather is great with temperatures in the high teens and lots of sunshine.'
The battle is on for the third podium place, with New York just outrunning Welcome to Yorkshire, but it hasn't been an easy last 24 hours for either of them.
'The wind has now dropped to around five knots if we are lucky and the wind direction is the same as our course over ground to Geraldton, so we are beating/drifting towards Oz and it looks like we may be here again for some time under Yankee 1 or windseeker and full main that is just hanging there. Our only hope is that the other yachts around us are in the same situation we are,' says New York's skipper, Gareth Glover. The Mancunian also reports he has been banned from the galley after taking a turn at cooking last night's dinner and using every pot and utensil on board.
Rupert Dean, Welcome to Yorkshire's skipper, jokes, 'Although we were expecting this period of extremely light winds from the daily GRIBs, current frustrations are getting to me, so I've handed over meteorological and tactical making decisions to our weather guru, Polly the Plug. Polly is a beautiful, pristine, white 1?-inch plug suspended on an 18-inch length of string.'
For those interested in meteorology, some of Polly's key indicators include the following observations: top of pug is wet - it is raining; string is stiff - it is frosty; string is vertical - there is no wind; string at an angle - there is some wind; string is horizontal - there is too much wind.
Tongue-in-cheek it may be, but it provides some light relief for the team as, says Rupert, 'Sailing in these conditions is frustrating to put it mildly. Trying to keep sails full as the boat rocks in the swell is nigh on impossible, so it's tempting to take them down altogether considering the huge wear endured whilst flapping around. Indeed James Charlesworth and Richard Simmons have just finished a repair to the Yankee 1.
'Doing so, however, risks missing that elusive zephyr out of nowhere that gets the boat moving and generates more apparent wind, allowing you to steer into an area of better breeze and get underway. The thought in the back of your mind, that your competitors are moving in more wind than you also makes you keep them up.'
Today's award for the most frustrated skipper goes to Ben Bowley on Singapore, who writes, 'I normally try to be positive in this daily update but this morning I have to be honest and say that I am absolutely livid with the trot of bad luck that has befallen us this race. We spent about nine hours last night going literally nowhere as the centre of the high moved over us, dead in the water with only the incessant slap slap slam of a variety of sails to further irritate us.
'If you have been fortunate enough to never be in such a situation or simply be cruising at the time (and therefore able to start your engine) you will not understand how tortuous this sound and motion is to a sailor. It makes you want to release a guttural, primeval roar at the sky and her cruel hearted wind gods. Instead, biting down firmly on your tongue, you say things like, 'I think we shall we try the windseeker again please, chaps...' inwardly wanting to take a knife to all the useless sails, put the engine on, and be driven to your destination by a 130-horsepower iron topsail.
'Having got no sleep last night I was a little relieved this morning when we managed to get the boat ghosting along at three or four knots in vaguely the right direction. It appears that after I went to bed this became very much the wrong direction and we have been heading further away from Geraldton ever so slightly.
'As I said, we are all furious with the terrible run of bad luck that has beset us this whole race, from wrapped kites, to multiple ripped kites, (all caused by unavoidable equipment failure) wind shifts, wind holes, we've had the lot. Let's hope that we have got all our bad juju out of the way in this race and we can start to claw back some points with a better result in the next.'
|
|
Qingdao in the Parade of Sail in Cape Town, South Africa, at the start of Race 4 - Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race - Bruce Sutherland/onEdition
|
To be faced with such conditions at the end of a three-and-a-half-week race is trying for everyone and Qingdao's skipper, Ian Conchie, says, 'This morning found us in a rolling sea with no wind which makes for rather unpleasant conditions on board, although the temperature has gone up so at least it's warm and sunny. We are trying our best to move towards Geraldton but what little wind there is pushes us either south east or north west but we continue to try and make progress and we are all praying for wind. The mood on board remains upbeat but the frustration of these winds in showing on everyone.'
None of the arrivals is more hotly anticipated than that of the home team, Geraldton Western Australia. Today the local paper, the Geraldton Guardian, has printed a poster for members of the community to display and a competition for the best dressed shop has ensured that everyone knows the Clipper Race is coming to town.
Juan Coetzer and his team are expected to arrive on Monday and will be assured of a warm welcome. They have also had some company out on the ocean, racing close to Visit Finland, who have been boosted in their efforts by taking the bonus point for the race four Ocean Sprint.
'At sun rise we spotted Santa on the horizon and later exchanged some war stories. It was great to hear Olly's voice and see another boat. Currently the wind we are in is playing games with us - shifting up to 45 degrees at a time, making it a challenge to pass Visit Finland.'
'Geraldton Western Australia are hot on our heels and have fared well during the lighter airs,' says Olly Osborne, the skipper of the Finnish entry. 'I spoke to Juan this morning and we had a friendly chat despite the fierce rivalry among the boats. The fortunes of each crew seem to have been very different within such a relatively small area, and positions are chopping and changing frequently. The updates we receive are the only indication of whether we have made up ground as we are not yet in sight of one another, and the results are often greeted with a 'how did they do that?!' or a cheer if the they are more favourable.
'Last night the sea was glassy and, with eyes constantly on the sails, there was just enough breeze to keep the boat ghosting along under heavyweight spinnaker. The gales of the Forties seem a long way behind us now and the race has taken on a much more tactical flavour as the boats crunch up for the final sprint into more tropical waters.'
Gordon Reid on Edinburgh Inspiring Capital agrees, saying, 'The last few days will prove to be very interesting as we continue our very exciting race to Geraldton.
'Always give your best shot, 'cause that's all you've got. We tried every permutation of sail plan just to keep the Purple Beastie moving through the high. Keeping forty tons of fun moving in very little wind is no easy task, but with focus and commitment from the ocean race team on Edinburgh Inspiring Capital we managed to keep her moving, albeit slowly. With the good comes the bad and unfortunately we lost some of our gains to the rest of the fleet.
'Our persistence paid off in the end and since early evening last night we have been trucking in some very tasty winds, with a full main, staysail and Yankee 1 fully powered up. With the bad comes the good and we are now taking back those miles again, with a bit of luck we will be out of the high as it moves east towards the rest of the fleet.'
The next 24 hours will be another case of the rich getting richer: those teams who manage to reach the stronger breeze first will pull away from those trapped by the high pressure system.
|
|
Derry-Londonderry races from Cape Town, South Africa, at the start of Race 4 - Clipper 11-12 Round the World Yacht Race - Bruce Sutherland/onEdition
|
'The boats further ahead look like they might escape the worst of these conditions as they stretch out into fresh winds from the south east, confirms Mark Light, Derry-Londonderry's skipper.
'The high has changed shape and moved on a daily basis and knowing where to place yourself is key... a crystal ball would be a great investment from the crew fund! It is sometimes difficult to watch other boats get the new wind when all we can do is struggle on in our own conditions but I am a great believer in things balancing out in the end. The thing that amazes me is that it is possible to get very different conditions between boats that are, in relative terms, actually very close to each other. Frustrating if you get adverse conditions but makes you feel very good (and slightly smug!) when things go your way more than your immediate neighbours.'
Positions at 0900 UTC, Friday 28 October
Boat - DTF*
1 Gold Coast Australia - 369nm
2 De Lage Landen - 533nm (+164nm DTL**)
3 New York - 617nm (+248nm)
4 Welcome to Yorkshire - 636nm (+267nm)
5 Qingdao - 651nm (+282nm)
6 Visit Finland - 659nm (+290nm)
7 Geraldton Western Australia - 678nm (+309nm)
8 Singapore - 745nm (+376nm)
9 Derry-Londonderry - 786nm (+417nm)
10 Edinburgh Inspiring Capital - 847nm (+478nm)
*DTF = Distance to Finish. **DTL = Distance to Leader. Full positions are updated every three hours and can be found
here
.
Clipper Round the World Yacht Race website
by Heather Ewing
|
Wongan Hills, WA
Kitesurfing - Kites
Windsurfing - Sails